Andres Iniesta: Puppet Master

Andres Iniesta, the Barcelona midfielder, features in Nike’s new CTR360 Maestri III spot as a master puppeteer. In addition, Iniesta reveals why he prefers to play in the midfield. He also offers some advice to young soccer players: Try to learn something from each soccer training session. Let’s see if we can learn a thing or two from one of the greatest midfielders to ever play the game of soccer. Someone who makes the game look easy.

To celebrate the launch of the new CTR360 Maestri III boot, Nike has created a new film featuring the world’s leading playmaker Andrés Iniesta, starring as a puppet master on the pitch. The FC Barcelona midfielder expertly pulls the strings dominating the midfield and dictating the pace of the game as a tiny figure on a miniature football pitch theatre set.

In the film Iniesta wears Nike’s completely re-designed CTR 360 Maestri III: the boots for the midfield maestro. Maestri – meaning Maestro in Italian – is the boot favored by midfield players like Iniesta who rely on innovative performance features to enhance their control of the ball, and therefore the game itself.

He is the soccer player with impeccable ball control, the player who receives the ball, makes his own time and space and has both the vision and the range of passing to create game changing opportunities.

On shooting and starring in the video Iniesta said: “It was fun to shoot; it is always good to do something a little different from the norm.”

He added: “The CTR 360 III Maestri is the main tool of my trade, it’s what makes me feel comfortable on the pitch, secure when I touch the ball, when I want to dribble or make a play. It’s important to feel comfortable in your boots, and I do.”

The new CTR360 Maestri III is reengineered to deliver enhanced control, traction, support and lightweight comfort. Using next generation Kanga-Lite synthetic material for an assured touch and durability, the new boot also features new All Conditions Control (ACC) technology, providing the same level of control in either dry or wet conditions.

Innovations include a revamped 3D control pad that uses separate strips with fins of varying sizes to hug the arch and maximize contact with the ball, optimizing receiving and passing accuracy.

An asymmetrical lacing system enlarges the area used to control the ball and a new streamlined design enhances touch sensitivity. A dimpled texture on the mid-foot increases friction, once again aiding the players control and touch.

The new and more responsive plate features a 360 degree stud placement – the boot deploys round studs on the medial side and blades on the lateral – is designed to provide premium comfort; perfect for the midfielder’s constant turns, and cuts through the pitch.

Here’s Iniesta’s goal in the World Cup final. The volley is perfectly struck, but what also stands out is how Iniesta really starts the sequence of passes with a back heel that leads to his eventual game winner.